In my opinion, it really comes down to personal preference. I have a Pelican 95, my brother has a Yeti 65.
They are both very good.
Yeti is a bit more expensive, both are heavy as hell, both keep ice for a long, long time....
Personally, I like the latches on the Pelican. My brother prefers the latches on his Yeti.
Just my two cents
That is my impression too. I went with the Pelican, since I found a deal that was crazy cheaper then the Yetis. It also has steel-reinforced hardware and I believe that the Yetis do not.
The Pelican I bought via an Amazon third-party provider and I also bought a couple of stainless restaurant serving trays that fit inside. I put the ice inside those and my food stays dry and super cold.
That said, there seems to be nothing wrong with the Yetis otherwise. I hear that they work great.
Last edited by Anjin; 11/28/15.
Norman Solberg International lawyer, lately for 25 years in Japan, now working on trusts in the US, the 3rd greatest tax haven. NRA Life Member for over 50 years, NRA Endowment (2014), Patron (2016).
I will say this....as a slight negative to any of these monsters, the size and weight can be a problem.
Here in CA, many of the the National Parks require coolers - even the ones rated as bear proof - be stored inside a bear locker. This has posed a problem as my Pelican 95 won't fit inside of some of them.
On the tumblers, the Yeti work great! Many a morning I have awoken to a cup half filled with cubes...holdovers from the evening before....still smelling of Gin.
Looks like Big Dave is on to something. Buy the RTIC and use the 50% savings to buy a boatload os ice!
X2 I received my RTIC 45 cooler a few days ago. They said it would ship in 6 weeks. Got it 5. For me it was worth the wait to save 50%. Basically the same as a Yeti but the RTIC is $175 verses $350. The RTIC 45 holds 45 quarts. The Yeti 45 doesn't, it's a 36.8 quart cooler. RTIC 65 is a 65 quart cooler and the Yeti 65 is a 57.2 quart. Happy. https://www.rticcoolers.com/compare-rtic-45-to-yeti-tundra-45-cooler
A heads up for all you Yeti lovers (and all those who can't believe folks spend so much $$$ on this kind of stuff), Yeti Holdings is planning an IPO here pretty soon. With all their suckers, er, I mean profit margin, you'll make a killing.
A heads up for all you Yeti lovers (and all those who can't believe folks spend so much $$$ on this kind of stuff), Yeti Holdings is planning an IPO here pretty soon. With all their suckers, er, I mean profit margin, you'll make a killing.
Sams Clubs sells an Iglo Sportsman that is a roto-molded yeti knock-off for $200 bucks. Very well built, 90% as good as the $400 Yeti. My buddy runs one daily in the back of his truck. I have 2 yetis right now and have bought over 20 of them. At full retail I am not sure I would buy them, at a discount, they are great. I am sick of the chitty hinges on cheap coolers. They last me one season and become 2-piece coolers. Yeti does NOT support the warranty on their previous coolers- only the Tundra. I suppose in a couple of years when the come out with an updated model they will not warranty the Tundras. I don't like that. When I pay big bucks for a life time warranty, I expect it to be for the life of me- not the life of the cooler!
I am on my fourth year using a Yeti knock off the Igloo Sportsman, it is a great cooler. Start of Deer season out here was in the mid 80's every day, I toss 3 blocks of ice in it a day before I pack it to leave so it is cold when I load it. Then on the day I load it I toss a small bag of ice on top of everything packed, when I got home 10 days later the 10 lb blocks still weighed close to 7 lbs each.
1]. Look just like Yeti. From the tests I have seen on YouTube, ice retention is same same.
2). Paid less than half, i.e., bought two RTIC 45s for less than just one Yeti 45 costs, and STILL think I paid a helluva lot for a cooler. I tell myself I probably won't be needing a cooler for many years to make myself feel better.
3). RTICs take a long time to ship. I ordered in July, was told ship by August 30, which came and went, and they shipped September 9-ish.
4) The RTICs charge no tax, and ship free. Very cool and adds up! They ship with very little padding ... A one-ply cardboard box and the cooler wrapped in a clear plastic bag. One of mine arrived with a small gouge in a corner, but I decided to live with it since it's a cooler after all.
5). I put a very bright light source inside each cooler, turned off the room lights, and neither seems to have any insulation voids. That's good. I have seen videos on YouTube where this type of cooler (called rotomolded) had insulation voids.
6). Rotomolded coolers are heavy, no matter the brand. The RTIC 45s weigh 25-ish pounds. They have an actual internal capacity of 45 quarts (for some reason, 45-quart Yetis have less?). 45 qts = 11.25 gallons. Water weighs 8.35 pounds per gallon, which means a 45-quart RTIC filled with water weighs:
11.25 gal x 8.35 lbs/gal + 25 lbs = 119 lbs
Sure, the contents of a cooler are going to be lighter than 100% water, but you get the point. 100 pounds for a full 45-qt cooler, give or take. For my uses that's manageable.
Jump to a 65 quart RTIC, which is only $25 more, but which weighs 36.5 pound empty, and your filled-with-water weight jumps to 172 pounds! (16.25 gal x 8.35 lbs/gal + 36.5 lbs = 172 lbs.). I figure you're looking at a 140-150-pound cooler when full. Could I get it into the back of the pickup alone? Yes. Do I wanna do that for the next 25 years? No. Plus, I don't need a 65-quart cooler for a lot of the short-range stuff I do. One 45-quart is plenty for those purposes.
Which is a long way of explaining why I got the two 45's. More insulation per quart of capacity, ability to separate stuff like bloody game bags or fish from food and drinks,for instance, and to break up the weight into more manageable chunks, or to travel light.
One last thing, in the Keys, every dang Hells Bay seems to have a Yeti on it in front of the console, and sitting/standing on them is NO PROBLEM. I never saw a warped top. Thinking I can use some of my old stock paint to camo up one of these bad boys for when I want to shoot doves close to the truck and the cold beverages.
"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated." Thomas Paine
Yeti deserves a bunch of 'distractors'. They are over priced. They are no better then 'copy cat' brands that cost a fraction of th eir price. They are all made in China anyway.
Be interested to know how you like that SoftPak. Been eyeing a lunchbox-sized one as well as something a bit bigger for the truck cab as well as for airline travel.
Edited to add: went to the RTIC website, and the ship date for the soft-sided stuff is 10/8, which is only a week away, but for either the 45 or 65 rotomolded, it is 11/24 if ordered today. That's Thanksgiving. Based on my experience, I'd be thinking now's the time to order if you want a hard-sided RTIC in time for Christmas.
Last edited by RickBin; 10/01/16.
"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated." Thomas Paine
Rick, I noticed you mentioned RTIC here awhile back so I checked them out. No way I'm paying $350 for the Yeti version and the flip top lid on the RTIC appears to be way better anyway.
The zipper is probably gonna eventually go to hell but I use ice packs(no melted ice..) so will probably just flip the lid shut and call it good.
Side note....
Just ordered spare lids for the uber awesome Yeti bottles and coffee cup. (36 and 18 oz bottles are the chizzle....)
Noticed in the gear/accessories department they sell a 3/4 lb. bottle opener....
1]. Look just like Yeti. From the tests I have seen on YouTube, ice retention is same same.
2). Paid less than half, i.e., bought two RTIC 45s for less than just one Yeti 45 costs, and STILL think I paid a helluva lot for a cooler. I tell myself I probably won't be needing a cooler for many years to make myself feel better.
3). RTICs take a long time to ship. I ordered in July, was told ship by August 30, which came and went, and they shipped September 9-ish.
4) The RTICs charge no tax, and ship free. Very cool and adds up! They ship with very little padding ... A one-ply cardboard box and the cooler wrapped in a clear plastic bag. One of mine arrived with a small gouge in a corner, but I decided to live with it since it's a cooler after all.
5). I put a very bright light source inside each cooler, turned off the room lights, and neither seems to have any insulation voids. That's good. I have seen videos on YouTube where this type of cooler (called rotomolded) had insulation voids.
6). Rotomolded coolers are heavy, no matter the brand. The RTIC 45s weigh 25-ish pounds. They have an actual internal capacity of 45 quarts (for some reason, 45-quart Yetis have less?). 45 qts = 11.25 gallons. Water weighs 8.35 pounds per gallon, which means a 45-quart RTIC filled with water weighs:
11.25 gal x 8.35 lbs/gal + 25 lbs = 119 lbs
Sure, the contents of a cooler are going to be lighter than 100% water, but you get the point. 100 pounds for a full 45-qt cooler, give or take. For my uses that's manageable.
Jump to a 65 quart RTIC, which is only $25 more, but which weighs 36.5 pound empty, and your filled-with-water weight jumps to 172 pounds! (16.25 gal x 8.35 lbs/gal + 36.5 lbs = 172 lbs.). I figure you're looking at a 140-150-pound cooler when full. Could I get it into the back of the pickup alone? Yes. Do I wanna do that for the next 25 years? No. Plus, I don't need a 65-quart cooler for a lot of the short-range stuff I do. One 45-quart is plenty for those purposes.
Which is a long way of explaining why I got the two 45's. More insulation per quart of capacity, ability to separate stuff like bloody game bags or fish from food and drinks,for instance, and to break up the weight into more manageable chunks, or to travel light.
One last thing, in the Keys, every dang Hells Bay seems to have a Yeti on it in front of the console, and sitting/standing on them is NO PROBLEM. I never saw a warped top. Thinking I can use some of my old stock paint to camo up one of these bad boys for when I want to shoot doves close to the truck and the cold beverages.
I read an interesting article in a corporate rag (INC. I think) awhile back about the origin of Yeti. It was originally designed to be a casting platform for redfishing on the flats. Keeping stuff cold for a long time was an added bonus.
I don't have either, but I would guess the RTIC would hold up the same since it is rotomolded as well.
I won a 65 quart yeti, only had it a couple months. Been freezing a few gallon water jugs, throwing a a bunch of beers/drinks in there. Leave it on the back porch or in the truck. It keeps for a while, then drink the water.
Wouldn't mind a smaller cooler, not sure I'd get a yeti or another brand. We'll see.
